Security Threats of Shadow IT

Shadow IT refers to the software that falls outside the ownership or control of your organization, such as free cloud based applications that employees use to do their work more efficiently. Trello and Dropbox are good examples.

Unfortunately, shadow IT creates risk for your company. Let’s talk about the security threats of shadow IT.

Shadow IT can cause some serious data leakage danger for your organization, depending on what your employees send to Dropbox, Trello, Google Sheets, or other popular cloud based apps. If an employee stores sensitive information in a cloud app, that data will end up on the black market as soon as the cloud app is hacked – and hacking happens all too frequently these days to take chances. Good news: The Seattle-based IT experts at Interplay can help you ID and secure these leaks. Learn more. 

What Are the Security Threats of Shadow IT?

Honestly, most shadow IT is harmless… but “most” isn’t “all,” and a cybercriminal only needs to have one successful hack to cause lasting damage to your organization. Since cloud apps are hacked pretty regularly, it’s best to make sure your company knows where and how your data is stored. 

Here are some real-life examples of the security threats of shadow IT: 

• Many handy browser extensions, including Zoom, leak your business data into competitors’ hands
• Infected apps can open your business to the risk of cryptojacking, which slows your processing speeds to a crawl and drives up cloud bills

Remember: In most cases, shadow IT doesn’t harm your company’s IT security. This is good news because Microsoft reports that 80% of employees were using shadow IT as of February 2021 and IT admins had no idea about most of it (ouch). The bad news is that, since hacking happens so often, the odds are that shadow IT will burn you if you let it sit unnoticed for too long. 

It’s time to act to protect your IT security. 

Not sure if you have the time or the tools to identify, assess, and block the security threats of shadow IT at your organization? Don’t worry. Interplay has got you covered with included shadow IT identification and eradication services – all as part of the comprehensive cybersecurity and IT management package that you get from our friendly, knowledgeable IT experts. 

Learn about your comprehensive services from Interplay. 

For 20 years, the friendly and knowledgeable IT team at Interplay has helped business leaders across a range of industries get more out of their tech, stress-free. Not only are we always (and we mean always) happy to offer the best managed IT services, support, and advice, we’re also the team you can trust for the best cocktail recommendations here in Seattle or in Disney World – we’re versatile! All humor aside though, we’d love to help you get your IT running smoothly and securely, around the clock.

Photo by Clement Helardot from Unsplash